The invention relates to a telecommunication system in which local users are capable of being called from one or more central stations by way of transmission paths selected by selection means.
An example of such telecommunication system is a cellular system, such as the GSM system or the future Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). The transmission paths comprise base stations which each take care of one local region.
Another example is the current Inmarsat system, in which there are included, in the transmission paths, satellites which each serve one region of the earth's surface.
In this type of system, there is a specific uncertainty as to the location where the users are, and therefore also as to the transmission path which must be chosen to be capable of reaching a user.
In the GSM system, there are routed calls by way of the transmission path which runs by way of the local base station where the user was most recently registered. To minimise the uncertainty regarding the user location, it is necessary that the user call regularly by having his mobile terminal regularly transmit a code. In the event of "pocket telephones", the transmission of such code requires a relatively great deal of battery power, as a result of which the battery must be recharged regularly.
In the Inmarsat system, so far calls are routed to the (four) regions on the basis of the region indicated by the calling party. If a call is unsuccessful, the call is repeated in one, two or three other regions. In practice, all of this turns out to lead to many calls being unsuccessful.